The Arandora Star left Liverpool on July, 1940, bound for Cananda with some 1,500 Italian and German internees, and almost 90 German PoWs on board.

On July 2, she was passing off the northwest coast of Ireland when Gunther Prien, captain of U-47 (which sank HMS Royal Oak in Scapa Flow) loosed his last torpedo causing the ship to sink 35 minutes later with the loss of some 800 lives.

It seems to be an emerging pattern nowadays, and the sinking is attached to controversy, with claims that the ship was overloaded, and that there were not enough lifeboats, that they were unreachable behind barbed wire barriers, and that troops guarding the internees shot holes in the boats, and much more if you read the various accounts and campaign sites dedicated to the Arandora Star.

However, the important thing is the loss of life, and this is to be marked in Glasgow by the creation of an Italian cloister garden, to be installed next to St Andrew's Cathedral in Clyde Street.  An appeal fund was launched in 2008 to build the garden in Glasgow to commemorate th4 "forgotten tragedy". Campaigners hope to raise £1.5m to construct the memorial.

I recall after the war reading about the Arandora Star and her tragic end while transporting Italian and German internee civilians, as well as some German POW's to Canada. Certainly a sad occasion for the passengers and their relatives. I think though, it was a time of sadness for most people living in the UK.

July 1940? Wow, Britain had one helluva mountain to climb at this time and there were few people around to help. Steps were taken at the time to safeguard the population of the UK, and little time was made available to do that which 70 years or so later might seem a bit more humane.

What happened to the Italian civilians especially, was not that which should have happened, and I myself was involved in part with the unjust treatment of the Italians when Italy invaded France. The Italians I'm referring to are those who had resided in the UK for a long time. I lived long enough to feel ashamed of what I had done, but at the time I never gave it a second though.

At that time, the 51st Highland Division for example, had just surrendered at St. Valery and the British were being hammered in many parts of the world. Britain was extremely vulnerable to the mighty power of the  German Wehrmacht. Our government had to take steps to protect us, and it was considered wise to send enemy aliens abroad. Those are briefly some of the dire circumstances under which the Arandora Star set sail.

The ship may well have been overloaded (so was the Lancastria!), tough times made overloading acceptable. If those responsible for the transport of aliens felt barbed wire war required, so it had to be. Okay, I see this as quite acceptable under the trying conditions. On the other hand this "troops guarding the internees shot holes in the boats," I view as utter balderdash.

So what's all this got to do with this memorial? Well, let me say, just off the top of my head, and without dwelling  on the sometimes tiresome  philosophy of war, I don't think there should be a memorial in the UK. If they want a memorial, and why shouldn't they have one if they want one, let them build it in Italy... how about an Italian cloister garden, somewhere in Rome.  I wouldn't contribute a penny to the cost.

I don't quite understand the Glasgow memorial, although further reading has shown that the injured were taken to Mearnskirk General Hospital, Newton Mearns, and that there are memorials at various other locations where the dead were buried, so fair enough (I think) if those concerned wish to contribute, and without dwelling too long, the "Talies" ("Tallies"?) are a bit of a Glasgow institution too (like the Pakies (or is that Pakis?), but were not allowed to say that!).

I've deliberately avoided giving any links to the stories, anyone interested can go find them, and selecting any one could taken as favouring whichever particularly controversial aspect it favours, and they all seem to have an axe to grind, and I simply don't want that to become a subject.

The specific reference to the lifeboat can be dug out of one of those dedicated sites. If I recall what I read correctly (I didn't collect all the links), the reference was to the condition of an Arandora Star lifeboat that washed up some time later, so it may be fair to say that while the site that referred to them may have been correct about the bullet holes, it was perhaps making an assumption about their source, ie that they were attributable to the troops guarding the internees. Perhaps the empty floating boat was shot and holed later to sink it, and prevent it being a hazard to shipping?

Reading the newspaper report of the day is more interesting, and in less dispute. There is no argument about the behaviour of the German PoWs on board, who happened to be sailors, and Captain Otto Burfeind of the SS Adolph Woermann who stayed onboard the sinking ship, organizing its evacuation until he was lost when it finally sank. A poignant reminder perhaps, of the difference between internees (regardless of nation) and Nazis.

Large Italian community according to the beeb several weeks ago.

Quoted from The Fox

Large Italian community according to the beeb several weeks ago.

Let them pay for it, they could erect one to dead Africans while they're at it.

There's a degree of substantially off-topic digression creeping in here, and I'd prefer not to do any more than mention the observation in passing.